Who Are We? Are We Our Bodies?

The body--our container, our vehicle, our means of communication and of transportation. The majority of the time most of us think of ourselves in terms of our bodies. How could we not? It’s what we see when we look in the mirror, it’s what other people see when they look at us and talk to us. It’s what our friends and lovers feel when they touch us, to hug us or make love to us. When we are sick it is particularly easy to focus on ourselves as bodies. The discomfort continuously draws our focus. It’s as if the body is crying out—look at me, pay attention, something wrong here!

Our cultural values and advertising also bombard us with images of bodies that most of the time we can’t live up to. So we are constantly on a diet, working out, coloring our hair and getting plastic surgery. Hey, don’t get me wrong. I’m the first one in line. No lack of vanity in my corner that’s for sure. And honestly, I don’t see a problem with that until, as with anything else, it’s taken to extremes and when we can’t live up to the ideal images we beat ourselves up and run around in a more or less constant state of mild dissatisfaction with ourselves.

As for our health, although as a society we are paying more attention, our dieting usually has more to do with how we look than how we feel. At least until some major event gives us a wakeup call we’d rather have slept through. Yes, we do have to take care of our bodies. They are remarkable mechanisms and serve us well in an almost miraculous way but they do need our cooperation.

But what about our bodies in relation to our minds? Can our minds actually have an effect on healing for instance? It’s said that our bodies already contain every chemical they need to heal. Our bodies can produce chemicals to anesthetize pain, to re-grow cells, and there are new theories being talked about where the power of our minds can actually change our genetics. There is some amazing stuff going on and I plan on talking more about that in later posts.

And then there’s the spiritual aspect in relation to our bodies. What about our consciousness, our thoughts, our spirit? I think most would agree that our personalities, values, emotions, etc., are a must better indicator of who we are then just our bodies. I know when I start to feel like I’m not measuring up to the impossible standards I set for myself physically, it changes my whole perception when I remember that I am so much more than a body. I am a precious child of god, a spiritual being having a human experience.

There’s a line in the movie “The Legend of Bagger Vance” that illustrates my point. It’s a movie about golf, but not really. Will Smith’s character, Bagger Vance is trying to explain why Matt Damon’s character, Rannulph Junuh is not having a good game. He says “Right now my player is a little confused. See he still think he Rannulph Junah” someone says “He is Rannulph Junuh, you damn twit!” Bagger comes back with the truth that nobody else is seeing. He says, “Well, he is and he ain’t.” See Rannulph and everybody else forgot he was a more than a golfer, more than a body. He was a spiritual being.